Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup final | 'Birthday girl' Shafali Verma in pursuit of title for India
The Hindu
For all their success at the international stage, the Indian women's cricket team has never won a World Cup at any level
Batting sensation Shafali Verma will chase history when she leads India against England in the first-ever ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup final in Potchefstroom on January 29, 2023.
For all their success at the international stage, the Indian women's cricket team has never won a World Cup at any level and the young batter, who has been part of two World Cup and one Commonwealth Games final with the senior team, will look to bring the elusive title home.
The seniors have made the World Cup final on three occasions across formats only to have returned with bitter memories — losing to Australia by 98 runs in 2005 and losing to England by 9 runs in 2017 in the ODIs, and in T20Is they went down in the 2020 final to the Aussies by 85 runs.
The youngster from Rohtak has been part of two World Cups across formats and she also witnessed another final defeat when India had settled for a silver medal in last year's Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Shafali Verma, however, does not want to let go of the opportunity this time.
" Haan bahut finals khela hai (Yes, I've played a lot of finals and seen it all)," Shafali, who turned 19 on January 28, 2023, said on the eve of the final.
"It's about going out there and enjoying the game. I've told the teammates 'don't stress, just give your 100 percent without thinking of it as the final. Just believe in yourself." "It's all past and that cannot be recreated. We are determined to bring the World Cup this time and are trying to improve day by day," she added.